About the Guide

The Friends of Hawaii’s Urban Forest applied for and was awarded a Forest Service National Urban and Community Forest Advisory Council (NUCFAC) Grant to develop an Urban Forestry Emergency Operations Planning Guide for Storm Response.

This project was driven by a growing awareness of the devastation that happens to the urban forest after a natural disaster such as a hurricane, ice storm or wind event. The question posed was how can the urban forestry industry be better equipped to respond to natural catastrophes?

This guide contains the results of the survey, the interviews, and the findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Why Plan for Storm Response?

We know that taking action to reduce damages goes a long way toward minimizing the impacts of natural disasters on the urban forest. But that is only part of the process. The other part is to develop a plan that you can use s based directly on feedback from the industry itself.

Motivate by Example

Storm response measures taken by individuals, businesses, contractors, emergency managers, utilities and governments give others ideas of what they can do to plan, prepare and lead when needed.

Instill Public Confidence

When things go wrong people expect government to be there. When trees fall and electrical service is interrupted the community expects action. When arborists are proactive in helping to restore power it builds public confidence in government.